Please Don't Say Goodbye
by Kai-ou-sama
Summary: That night, so many years ago, Vincent's life was shattered with that fatefull goodbye...


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~Hi-hi! This's just a short, one-shot about Vincent and Lucrecia's break up. Unusual, seeing as I don't really like Lucrecia. The words in between the story in italics are a poem I made up one morning on the bus ride to school. (It's a long ride) Disclaimer: I own the poem; I do not own the characters.~

Please Don't Say Goodbye

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~Please don't say goodbye

As we share this moonlit night

My heart can't take those words

The look of sadness in your sight~

The cool breeze ruffled Vincent's hair as he stood silently in the small grove not far from the ShinRa mansion in Nibelheim. The moonlight shone softly, illuminating the clearing and giving the trees a mystic quality. The gentle glow of night bugs caught his eye, and he gazed at them as they flew gracefully in swirling patterns that instilled in him a feeling of peace and tranquility. The scent of roses and honeysuckle hung heavily in the warm night air, and he breathed deeply, enjoying much the romantic perfection of this night. Even the pale, full moon shining directly above him enhanced the scene as he waited for the one element missing, the one he was to meet.

_Lucrecia…_He gripped the bouquet in his hands tightly as he heard a sweet female voice behind him.

"Vincent? There you are," he turned, and his breath caught in his throat. The moonlight shone off her long auburn locks and illuminated her beautiful skin, giving her an ethereal quality. She seemed to him a specter, or a faye, perhaps, and the fact that she walked silently enough to avoid his sensitive Turk hearing reinforced his thoughts. Realizing that his staring was making her uncomfortable, he lowered his red-brown eyes and smiled charmingly at her.

"You look lovely tonight, as always, Lucrecia," he breathed, approaching her, his arms wide to pull her into an embrace. If she seemed unresponsive, he merely put it off to emotional stress. She had, after all, been rather busy helping Hojo lately, and the pimply professor made little effort to hide his interest in his beauteous co-worker. It took all Vincent's self-control to maintain his professional mask of indifference around the man instead of immediately rushing his beloved away from him. "You wanted to see me?" he asked, lowering his mouth to her ear and kissing her playfully.

"Vincent…" she moved her head away from him. "We have to talk."

Vincent stopped, his body tensing. It hadn't been that she'd moved away, he was used to that. And he was also familiar with 'having to talk'. But her voice had been so… off. Professional, but with underlying sadness. He stepped back, looking deeply into her eyes to try and find some hint, some clue as to what was wrong. The aqua depths of her eyes bore sadness, though her face was indifferent, in the expression she usually wore to mask her emotions. But Vincent knew it well enough, and a rising fear tore through his heart, turning to anguish at her next words; the words he knew were coming.

"We can't continue this any longer."

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~The gentle words you say

Are poison to my breaking heart

The way you try to spare me pain

Is tearing me apart~

Vincent continued to stare into her eyes, as if searching for something, anything that might tell him this was a cruel joke, that her perfect lips would break into a smile and her laughter would fill the night air as she embraced him and soothed his wounded pride. He saw nothing but sadness and pity. He bowed his head, his ebony bangs shading his eyes as her voice continued.

"Vincent, please understand. You know I care for you dearly, but…"

"Why?" he asked, not raising his head. He couldn't- her expression hurt him too much. "If you care so much, then why?"

"It is _because _I care that I feel we must part!" she replied, her voice rising emotionally. She paused a moment to collect her composture before continuing. "I don't want to hurt you, but I feel it's inevitable. We need to stop now, or it will only hurt more later."

Vincent knew she was thinking of his best interests, but it hurt. He didn't want to give her up. He loved her. And her soft, kind words as she told him how he could certainly do better only pained him more. Did she not realize that _she_ was perfect? That no woman on heaven or earth could ever possibly fill the gap in his life if ever he were to lose her? He tried to tell her, but she would cut him off. Her mind was set, and even one as stubborn as Vincent couldn't bend her will and sway her decision. He could only listen as her sweet voice injected the venom of misery into his unprotected heart.

"It's Hojo, isn't it?" he asked quietly, knowing the answer before he'd even asked.

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~You gently take my hand

And gaze at me with tearful eyes

I feel my heart stop beating

As you tell me love is all a lie~

Her professional mask dissolved, replaced by a melancholic expression that spoke volumes and confirmed his belief. She reached forward, taking the hand devoid of roses in hers and wrapping her own hands around it. Her hands were soft and delicate, like her, and the warmth of her fingers seeped into his own.

"The Professor is a good man…" she spoke. She seemed to be trying to convince herself more than Vincent, but he scarcely noticed. Her eyes were bright with barely restrained tears, and Vincent was amazed that his own tears were held in check. Then again, Turks weren't supposed to show weakness.

"I'll be well provided for, you know," her voice wavered, and the small smile on her face was tenacious, nothing more than hollow reassurance that this was the right path. "And you _know _that you and I hardly ever get to see each other anyway due to our different jobs… It's amazing that we're together on _this _assignment…"

"But I love you!" Vincent protested, his voice, so laden with hurt that it was barely recognizable, even to himself. "Doesn't that mean anything? Am I really so insignificant to you that…"

"No, Vincent," she sobbed, her voice so wretched that he stopped mid-sentence, despite his instinctive urge to continue his rant. "No, you're not. But there's the baby to think of…"

Vincent was certain he'd felt his heart stop. _No…_

~I stare at you and listen

Hearing nothing that you say

Your voice still flowing through me

Wishing I could fade away~

He was aware that she was still speaking, but her words were lost to the confused jumble that had become his thoughts. She was pregnant. She was going to leave him and marry Hojo and he would never experience her love again. He stared through her, eyes unfocused, lost in his thoughts.

Her smile would never again be for him. Her laughter would no longer follow his teasing advances or his playful courtship of her. Her eyes would not reflect his as they stared at each other happily. He would no longer know the warmth of her loving embrace, nor the softness of her lips against his, nor the silken feel of her flawless skin beneath his hands. Her soft sighs were no longer for the pleasure of his ears to hear, and he would never again awaken to feel her lying safely, snugly, securely against his body as he awoke. He had lost her.

And it was Hojo's fault, the greasy son-of-a-bitch.

No, Vincent must have erred as well. If he hadn't, then surely Lucrecia would never have even considered the scientist. Their jobs _had_ kept Vincent from her often. Perhaps he didn't make his love known to her often enough? He had told her many times, though. Maybe she disliked something about his appearance? She'd never said anything, and she cut his raven hair herself. Was it the fact that he didn't have the scientific knowledge she possessed? That must have been so. It was the only thing he could think of that Hojo possessed that Vincent himself did not. 

Vincent could feel the warm tears beginning to spill over his cheeks. He had obviously failed her somehow. All he could do was gaze upon her as her voice continued to hum through his ears as he silently cursed himself. If he simply faded away now, he would be happy to spare her this pain of explaining their separation to him as well as herself.

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~And if you turn to leave

Abandon me and my broken heart

I think I may stop breathing

Can't bear for us to part~

"I'm so sorry, Vincent…" she finished finally. Her voice broke with sorrow as she uttered his name, and she finally turned to leave.

Vincent could do no more than stare after her retreating figure as he finally felt the full force of his life crashing down upon him. The rose and honeysuckle of the night air seemed sickeningly thick now, mixing with the jasmine of Lucrecia's own scent and threatening to suffocate him. The night bugs' lights floating in the darkness were to him symbolic of his hopes, his dreams, as they flickered precariously, scattered by the breeze.

He choked, though it was no fault of the flowers, and fell to his knees in the soft grass. His shoulders shook a few times, silently, and then Vincent did something he hadn't done in all the years since he had become a Turk.

He wept, openly and freely, his sobs unrestrained in the darkness of the grove.

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~Please don't say goodbye

The moonlight sparkling on the dew

Please don't let me go

I'm dieing slowly without you~

When the last of his tremors subsided, he was slow to rise. Tears stained his face, and his carefully maintained suit was wrinkled, the knees grass-stained and damp with dew. The night seemed now at once both depressing and oddly comforting. The shadows would hide him-his pain- though he knew his life would never again be complete, even in the darkest of nights.

He walked silently, dejectedly, a broken man returning to the shattered remains of life, but he wouldn't leave it yet. He had failed Lucrecia, would never have her return his love again, but he made a vow. He would protect her, his beloved, and her child. And he would not fail his Lucrecia a second time.

The moonlight shone palely on an object laying forgotten in the soft grass where the heartbroken man had previously knelt. The soft winds rustled, shifting the delicate petals of twelve perfectly formed crimson roses, lovingly tied together with a single ribbon of pure white satin. Attached to the end of the ribbon was a golden ring, its diamond sparkling faintly in the waning light of the moon above.


End file.
